Opening Day 2013: Opening day dove season wrap-up

Opening Day 2013: Opening day dove season wrap-up

Well opening day of dove season went pretty well for myself and Chris. Our season began months ago when we put in for the dove draw. I spent a lot of time looking at the available properties within a few hours of us and picked our site based on previous years birds per hunter averages and the number of hunters relative to the spots hunted. The site had one of the best averages, but most importantly it seemed like a good chance of getting drawn. The area had good upland fields that were planted early which was important in a year with some crops planted early and some very late. Sunflowers need 90 days to mature and need to be done growing by August 15th or so to produce optimally for the dove season. I felt as though the site was our best option considering a lot of analytical factors. Honestly, the most important decisions of the hunt happened in June while behind a computer.

I wasn’t able to get out to the area before the hunt to scout and was only able to see 1 of the 4 fields before the draw started. While we were guaranteed a hunt there was no guarantee of a good position. Once the drawing got started and other hunters started picking spots it was obvious what the hot field was. I don’t always trust the order that positions are picked by other hunters, but they can be used to confirm my suspicions. By time we were drawn the best field was full, but we were able to get my second choice of field with the sun and wind in our favor on the side nearest to the trees and water. Luckily I had seen 1 of the 3 fields available and had pretty good ideas of where to go within the other 2 fields. The field we hunted had trees and a river that created well defined roosting areas. We set up with the wind and the sun at our back. I would have preferred to be on one end of the field, but we ended up between 2 of the most productive flight paths in our field. Honestly, dove hunting from a stake is often a game of luck on opening day as you don’t have control over a lot more than your concealment and shooting.

Doves usually fly through low spots in a field or between gaps in trees. On this hunt we had to be within a certain distance of a stake along a partially mowed sunflower field. Chris and I spaced ourselves evenly off of the stake with the Mojo dove in front of us. It turned out our Mojo dove was too low in the narrowly mowed sunflower strips to be easily seen. I don’t think that Mojo doves are nearly as useful as rotary winged decoys are for ducks, but I believe you are at a disadvantage if other hunters have them and you don’t. For $30 it is worth bringing along.

The hunting was from 12-5pm and it was in the high 80’s and mostly sunny. The sunflowers were pretty weed heavy, but were tall and had good heads. The shooting started promptly at noon, but the first hour was pretty slow and I’m not really sure we had more than 4 birds between us in the first hour. The hunters were well spaced and no one did anything stupid all day, a small miracle on public land. The birds were flying in waves when the wind kicked up. It seemed as though I would shoot 3 or 4 birds then wait for another 45 minutes for another peak in the action.

We both didn’t have enough water and by 2:00 PM I couldn’t wait to limit out and get a Gatorade. I wore a baseball cap and should have worn a boonie with a wide brim in the hot weather.

It took us a few hours and birds lost in the 10 foot tall corn behind us to figure out which flight paths were being productive for us. As the day went on our shooting and shot selection improved. We were both shooting 2 ¾” #7 Winchester bulk steel shot ammo with improved cylinder chokes. The ammo wasn’t very good in my opinion, but 12 gauge steel dove shot was really hard to come by this year Chris was hunting with his Benelli M2 and I had my new Beretta A300. Both guns ran flawlessly.

Around 3:45 I got my 15th bird. I then videoed Chris hunting and retrieved a couple of his birds. After we got a kill on tape we headed back to the car at 3:45, both of us ready to be in the air conditioning. It was a great hunt and we got 25 birds between us in a little less than 4 hours. It was my first time hunting and shooting with my new Beretta A300 which shot really well. It wasn’t really a huge departure from my AL390 20 gauge, but it is a lot of gun for the money nonetheless. It was a great way to start off our hunting season.

Its worth noting that of the 50 parties who drew reservations for opening day, at least 10 were turned away because they didn’t read the regulations and had lead shot. Our odds of getting a good spot went up because we had done our homework. This was truly a hunt that was successful because of preparation months in advance.